"Concluding a long legal climb to cleaner air, the federal government Monday announced a record $425-million settlement with two oil refiners that is expected to reduce pollution emissions in the West by almost 43,000 tons annually."

"Water from the Colorado River could transform several thousand acres of desert into farmland under a change in policy adopted by the Coachella Valley’s largest water district."

"California regulators Wednesday again rejected Volkswagen’s plan to fix diesel cars that were programmed to cheat on air pollution tests, saying the proposal lacked enough detail for the state to gauge its effectiveness."

"California's landmark cap-and-trade program to fight climate-changing pollution from fossil fuels would survive long past Gov. Jerry Brown's time in office under a state proposal Tuesday."

"A vocal and growing number of residents in northeast Fresno are convinced water from the city’s Surface Water Treatment Facility is primarily responsible for corrosion in their pipes, causing discolored water – and in several dozen instances, lead contamination – to flow from their household faucets."

"Californians this summer are starting to see a new warning at checkout lines of grocery stores, pharmacies and convenience markets that the products on their shelves may include a dangerous chemical. But there's one problem: The signs don't tell them which products."

"A new wildfire burning through bone-dry grass, shrub and timber has forced the evacuation of dozens of homes in a mountain community in central California and more houses could be in the inferno's path, fire officials said on Saturday."

"The overlap of oil and gas development and water sources underscores the vulnerability of California's groundwater, and the need for monitoring, the authors said."

"In California's farming heartland, as many as one of every five oil and gas projects occurs in underground sources of fresh water, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The Oakland City Council voted unanimously Monday to block the handling and storage of coal in Oakland, effectively halting a developer’s controversial plan to ship coal from the port."

"A fast-growing wildfire on Thursday destroyed at least 80 homes near the riverside community of Lake Isabella in central California, as a threat to populated areas from five other major blazes across the state diminished, authorities said."